“Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but the ability to do what we ought.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Table of Contents

1. DNC Offers Free Sterilization and Murder

2. Yesterday (Less) People Went to Church

3. Ukraine Advances in Russia

4. Other news you should know

5. Share this newsletter

DNC Offers Free Sterilization and Murder

At the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago this week, attendees will have access to free vasectomies and abortions through a Planned Parenthood mobile clinic parked near the event. The clinic, operating on August 19 and 20, offers vasectomies by appointment, with a high demand creating a waitlist, while medication-induced abortions are available on both days without an appointment. Services are offered on a sliding fee scale. Vice President Kamala Harris, a strong advocate for abortion rights, is expected to speak on reproductive issues at the convention. Pro-abortion demonstrations, including a large "inflatable IUD" named "Freeda Womb," are planned despite the city's restrictions on protest permits. Local businesses have barricaded their premises in anticipation of potential unrest. The DNC runs from today through this Thursday.

This story should not be used by anyone to score political points but rather should be met with sorrow and deep conviction (2 Corinthians 7:10, Amos 5:15).

The remnant would be wise to take notice that, within modern-day progressivism, there is a parallel structure to the church. There are high priests, orthodoxies, heresies, and acceptable forms of "worship." As Georgia pastor Griffin Gulledge noted, "You can't hold your biggest worship service without your sacrament." Sadly, the sacraments we see being celebrated at this week's Democratic Convention are not encouraging celibacy and fidelity but a form of castration and the encouragement of child sacrifice. 

We operate in a world that is not merely a battle of flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), and while some differences can be met with an "agree to disagree" attitude, others must be called what they are—evil. It is not partisan to call evil "evil;" it is necessary and principled (Isaiah 5:20). Isaiah's warning not to call good "evil"  was a prophetic warning to a society that had turned the moral order completely upside down. The remnant is to be God's prophetic voice today (Jeremiah 1:17).

We also must be heralds of God's gospel of grace and God's agents of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). As we wrote last week, outrage is not a strategy, but outreach is. Pray that those who "not only do evil deeds but give approval to those who practice them" would repent and trust in Christ as the author of life and avenger of evil (Acts 3:15, Romans 12:19). No one is ever too far from the Lord's reach (Luke 19:10, 1 John 1:9) but if those who know the grace and love of God do not engage with those whose lives and political strategies mock it, there is no hope for anything but judgment for both of us (Romans 10:14-17, Luke 9:26). May many who gather in Chicago this week, and all who give hearty approval to their worldly ideologies come to know the offer of a gracious King Who has said, "though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18).

_{By: Jamie Wilder and Todd Wagner}

Yesterday (Less) People Went to Church

Church attendance in the U.S. continues to decline, with only 30% of adults attending religious services regularly, according to recent Gallup polls. This drop is primarily driven by the growing number of Americans without religious affiliation, which has risen from 9% two decades ago to 21% today. Catholics have seen one of the largest declines in attendance, while religious groups like Muslims and Jews have experienced slight increases. Gallup predicts church attendance will likely continue to fall, especially among younger Americans, who show weaker attachments to religion.

It is obvious from the above article that church attendance is down, but that is not America’s biggest problem. Long before attendance began waning, attention to God’s Word did. This was especially so in places where zeal for God’s Word should be most important, specifically from those who preached in pulpits, elders charged with shepherding others, and leaders responsible for leading denominations. When those charged with leading fail to lead, followers fail to follow Jesus (Matthew 15:14). America’s problem is not with its falling church attendance; it is with America’s failing church leaders.

This is not a new problem but it is a concerning one (Ezekiel 34). Charles Spurgeon saw this same concern in his beloved England in the middle of the 19th century and famously quipped, “A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, we will have clowns entertaining the goats.” One hundred years later, the winsome itinerant preacher Vance Havner rightly observed, “The devil’s not fighting religion; he’s too smart for that. He’s producing a counterfeit Christianity that is so much like the real one that good Christians are afraid to speak out against it.” The remnant does not succumb to such fears, and the remnant does not put up with counterfeit Christianity (Galatians 1:6-9). The Lord does not want you to attend a religious service; he wants you to tend to the service to which you have been radically called (1 Peter 4:7-11). Every member of the remnant should examine the local community of which they are a part (1 John 4:1). If you are part of a place that is focused on getting you to come back instead of calling you to turn back from your sins, you are not in the presence of God’s men.  If your “pastors” want you to like them more than they call you to hate the deeds of your flesh and the way of the world, you are in a counterfeit church. If your pastors and elders don’t have a system to know you (Proverbs 27:23), challenge you, care for you, and correct you (1 Thessalonians 5:14), then they are the clowns Spurgeon warned us he saw soon coming.

When Jesus calls you, He calls you to come and die, not come to a weekly meeting. It is one of the great troubles of our day that the very place people should go to learn about God is the place they go to get introduced to something that has the form of godliness but denies its power (2 Timothy 3:5). Havner was right when he observed, “The parents of Jesus lost Him at church, and they were not the last ones to lose Him there.

_{By: Todd Wagner}

Kamala’s Economic Policy

Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled an economic agenda aimed at providing tax relief for over 100 million middle-class and lower-income Americans. Her platform includes measures to make housing, groceries, health care, and child-rearing more affordable, building on President Biden's economic policies while addressing ongoing inflation concerns. Harris also criticized former President Donald Trump's economic proposals, particularly his tariffs, arguing they would raise prices for Americans. Although her plan requires congressional approval and lacks specific details on funding, Harris proposes tax credits for families, lower rent and housing costs, and expanded healthcare affordability as key components of her strategy.

Alleviating the needs of the struggling and impoverished can sound like a good idea. However, the shrewd know that some of these economic policies and financial techniques have been tried with devastating consequences and at the cost of great freedoms (Cuba, USSR, etc.) The list of countries that have prospered when embracing Marxist ideas remains at zero, while the suffering and death that has come from them is in the hundreds of millions. While Scripture is clear about how the church should treat the hurting, needy, and impoverished (Proverbs 31:8-9), it also reminds us that the poor will always be with us (Deuteronomy 15:11, Mark 14:7) until the Lord returns (Psalm 91:8) and that embracing the philosophies and strategies of the world will only lead to further ruin (Colossians 2:8). Striving for affordability and a sustainable standard of living is an important job of our government, but price gouging, housing credits, and things that would contribute more to a welfare state are policies with proven-dangerous consequences. 

So then, how should the remnant think about caring for the poor? First, with their own purses rather than relying on government policy. With genorosity, wisdom, and time (2 Corinthians 9:7), We should be weary of quick-fix, “free money” promises (Proverbs 13:11, Proverbs 21:5), and leery of leaders, and political parties, who use select words and destructive ideas to curry favor while slowly leeching our freedoms.   

_{By: Kirby Mankin}

Other news you should know

 🛞 Kanye West pulls up to a Trump rally.

🚨 Peruvian gang leader found and arrested in TX.

🙅🏻 Can’t scam the king.

🇸🇩 Chloera outbreak kills 22 people.

🗿 Massive skull and mammoth tusk found.

💉 Several have been arrested in relation to Matthew Perry’s drug-induced death.

⁉️ Congressional Dems want Kamala Harris to wait until after the election to give her policy agenda. Yes, you read that right.

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